During the first season of Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage, the CBS spinoff struggled to define itself as a sitcom. Not quite the comical stylings of The Big Bang Theory or the same tone as the more dramedy writing of the later seasons of Young Sheldon, Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage found itself adrift somewhere in the middle.
However, as television is finding itself with fewer sitcoms, and with Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage identifying itself as a comedy with its live studio audience, season 2 needs to take stronger steps in establishing itself firmly as a sitcom rather than lingering in the gray area between two genres. Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage may have the makings of a family comedy, but it needs a few extra pushes to fully embrace the sitcom tone.
Utilize Mandy in a professional environment
Creating storylines for Mandy that see her at work and playing a front and center role against other characters in a new environment will allow her to grow, and the sitcom style of writing to become stronger. One of the ways The Big Bang Theory flourished was seeing like-minded geniuses interact at home and at work while bouncing off of the pop-culture-loving Penny.
While Mandy may not be a science genius, giving her the ability to work with people in a similar field with shared experiences in the environment of live broadcast television creates several storylines that could offer comedy to the show. Mandy spent most of season 1 in her house or briefly at the diner she worked at as a waitress. But she is capable of creating much more fun for the show as a whole, as the series teased toward the conclusion of its first season.
Getting out of the house
The McAllister family dynamic is a bit of a hit-or-miss plot line. While it can occasionally work, it just as often falls flat. Georgie and Mandy may flourish in other environments if they can spend more storylines outside of the house, but that goes for the entire main cast of characters. Mixing up the family dynamics in different situations and broadening the scope of the chaos of this family in different settings has the opportunity to grow the ability to make fun of the chaos that can come with going out with a toddler.
Portraying Mandy and Georgie as they discover what it is like to be parents to a child who is starting to become more interested in the world around them could offer the chance to develop them more as parents. Storylines showing what it means for CeeCee to grow up could offer new comedic approaches to parenthood, rather than CeeCee existing in the background.
Give Connor a bigger role
Of all the members of Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage, Connor has become one of the show's breakout funniest characters, who actually behaves as if he is written for a sitcom. However, Connor mostly appears briefly, never having a particularly large role in the overall show. But given how he is written and portrayed in season 1, season 2 could benefit from him having more to do and increased interactions with the rest of the family.
Georgie's character is written less with humor and more with Young Sheldon's limbo tone, while Mandy is more portrayed as a sitcom character. Meanwhile, Audrey and Jim are reliant on more one-note jokes that never quite give the series the laughs it needs. The show's other main character, Ruben, is barely ever present and never quite feels like a part of the main cast. Connor is one of the show's main connections to the overall feeling of how this show could behave if acting like a real sitcom.
Overall, Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage showed some of its building blocks throughout its first season, especially when relying on guest star appearances from Young Sheldon. However, this series should not have to completely rely on guest appearances to thrive in its ability to tell jokes.
Plenty of season 1's early episodes showed Georgie directly dealing with the grief that came from his father's death. While that may always be a part of Georgie moving forward, there are ways to encourage the series to truly become its own installment of The Big Bang Theory universe. Sitcoms can absolutely have dramatic beats and storylines, but Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage deserves to see how it can move forward as the comedy series it has the potential to become.
Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage season 2 is set to premiere on CBS on Oct. 16, 2025 at 8/7c.